114 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF FIRST, SECOND AND 
. THIRD CROP ALFALFA HAY FOR MILK 
PRODUCTION. 
By W. E. CARROLL. 
(Abstract). 
During the two years ending March 31, 1913, the De- 
partment of Animal Husbandry of the Utah Experiment 
Station has been testing the comparative value of first, 
second and third crop alfalfa hay for milk production. Each 
year fifteen milk cows were used, divided into three lots 
of five each. Each lot contained two Holsteins, one mature 
Jersey, a Jersey heifer, and one grade cow borrowed for the 
experiment. The second year the lots were the same in 
number and the same size, composed of two Holsteins, two 
Jerseys and one grade each. During each year, the lots 
were fed so that each lot at some period of the experiment 
received each crop of hay, i. e., lot 1, for example, was fed 
one period on first crop, another period on second crop, 
and a third period on third crop hay. A preliminary per- 
iod of about two weeks was run each year in order to get 
the cows on feed well and the record keeping in good shape. 
The lots were divided so as to have them as nearly equal in 
weight, in age, and in period of lactation as was possible 
with the cows available, and the subsequent records showed 
that the lots proved to be very uniform. 
A minimum allowance of grain was fed each year. The 
first year, it consisted of one part bran and one part crushed 
oats. The second year, it consisted of one part bran and 
one part chopped barley. As small an allowance of grain 
was given as was thought practical in order to throw the 
test as completely as possible on the different crops of 
hay. With this in mind, 0.65 pound of the grain mixture 
was fed per day for each pound of butter fat produced 
each week. That is, a cow that was producing 10 pounds 
of butter fat per week received 6.5 pounds of the grain mix- 
ture per day. 
